CARDINAL - EGCLJ EGCMLJ

Cardinal George Pell was born in , . Pell received his early education at Loreto Convent and at St. Patrick's College, both in his native Ballarat. In 1960, he began his priestly studies at Corpus Christi College, then located at Werribee Victoria. In 1963 George Pell was selected to study in at the prestigious Pontifical Urban College de Propaganda Fide, founded by Urban VIII in 1627. On 16 December 1966, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Grégoire-Pierre Agagianian at St. Peter's Basilica. He received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Urbaniana University in 1967 and continued his studies at the where he earned a DPhil in church history in 1971 with a thesis entitled "The exercise of authority in early Christianity from about 170 to about 270". During his studies at Oxford, he also served as a to Catholic students at , where he celebrated the first Roman Catholic Mass since the English Reformation.

In 1971, he returned to and was assigned to serve as an assistant priest in , where he remained for two years. He then served at a parish in Ballarat East from 1973 to 1983. From 1985 to 1987, Pell served as seminary of his alma mater, Corpus Christi College, now located at Clayton, Victoria.

Fr George Pell was appointed an auxiliary of and Titular Bishop of Scala on 30 March 1987. He was named seventh Archbishop of Melbourne on 16 July 1996, receiving the from Pope John Paul II on 29 June 1997. He was later appointed eighth Archbishop of Sydney on 26 March 2001 and again received the pallium from John Paul on 29 June 2001.

Archbishop Pell was a consultor of the for Justice and Peace from 1990 to 1995 and a member from 2002. From 1990 to 2000 he was a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In April 2002, John Paul II named him President of the Vox Clara commission to advise the Congregation for Divine Worship on English translations of liturgical texts. In December 2002 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family, having previously served as a consultor to the council. In October 2003 he was created and proclaimed Cardinal-Priest. On 22 September 2012, Pell was appointed a member of the Congregation for .

Cardinal Pell joined the on 25 July 1985 and was the senior chaplain of the Victorian Commandery. He has continued as a chaplain of the Order to the present day. Cardinal Pell has been decorated with Australia’s highest decoration, a Companion of the Order of Australia, and has been decorated by the Order of Saint Lazarus with an Ecclesiastical Grand Cross and the Ecclesiastical Grand Cross of Merit.

by prc - anto

ORDER OF SAINT LAZARUS - Cardinal George PELL